How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 21st February 2024. If you’ve suffered psychological distress after a collision, you may be wondering, “How much compensation can I claim for anxiety after a car accident?” In this guide, we’ll explore how and when you can make a car accident claim. We’ll also talk about the duty of care all road users owe and are owed, and the time limits in place for starting personal injury claims.
This guide will also discuss the evidence that you could use while claiming compensation for a psychological injury, and how a personal injury solicitor could help support your claim. Finally, we’ll explore the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor on your case.
Contact Our Team
Our team of advisors are here to help. While we hope this guide gives you the information you need, you can also contact our team at any time if you’d like to discuss your claim. They can evaluate it for free, and if it is valid, may then connect you with one of our personal injury solicitors. To get started, you can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the live chat feature
- Contact us online
Select a Section
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
- When Could I Claim For Psychological Trauma After A Car Accident?
- Anxiety After Car Accidents – Claim Time Limits
- How Can I Prove A Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
- Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Useful Links Related To How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident
How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
You may be looking for an anxiety compensation calculator to help you understand how much a potential settlement could be worth. However, a calculator may not be able to consider all aspects of your claim when providing a figure. Some successful settlements may consist of two heads of claim: general and special damages.
General damages compensate for the physical pain and mental suffering caused by your injuries. This covers both physical injuries, such as a neck injury and harm to your mental health, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When assigning a value to your claim, legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them. This guide provides guideline compensation brackets for different injuries, and refer to claims made in England and Wales. Please not that the first entry has not been taken from the JCG.
We have also included two whiplash entries with corresponding figures from the tariff in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021; these amounts are fixed.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Amount | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries And Special Damages | Up to £150,000+ | Financial losses such as lost earnings combined with multiple severe injuries. |
| Psychiatric Damage – Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 | The claimant will have marked issues with large aspects of their life and a poor prognosis. |
| Psychiatric Damage – Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 | Whilst this person may also have marked problems with family life, ability to work or continue in education, they have a better prognosis. |
| Psychiatric Damage – Moderate | £5,860 to £19,070 | The person will have a good prognosis and will have made some recovery. |
| Severe PTSD | £59,860 to £100,670 | The person will be unable to live as they did before the trauma due to permanent effects that negatively impact all areas of their life. |
| Moderately Severe PTSD | £23,150 to £59,860 | With professional help, some recovery can be made. However, the person is still likely to suffer with various effects for a while. |
| Moderate PTSD | £8,180 to £23,150 | In these cases the claimant will have largely recovered and any continuing effects will not be too disabling. |
| Whiplash Tariff | £4,345 | The injured party suffers with whiplash alongside a minor psychological injury with symptoms lasting 18-24 months. |
| Whiplash Tariff | £3,100 | The injured party experiences the symptoms of whiplash alongside a minor psychological injury for 15-18 months. |
Additionally, you might be awarded special damages to compensate for financial losses caused by your injuries. Some examples of what you might be able to recover under special damages include:
- Therapy costs.
- Travel expenses.
- The cost of prescriptions.
- Loss of earnings.
You should submit evidence of these costs, such as receipts and wage slips.
What Are The Whiplash Reforms And How Could They Affect My Claim?
The Whiplash Reform Programme may affect your claim, as they changed how road traffic accident claims are made in England and Wales for drivers and passengers aged 18 or over with claims worth £5,000 or less.
Also, whiplash injuries will be valued in accordance with the tariff set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These amounts are fixed and illustrated in our table.
Further injuries that are not covered by the tariff will be valued in the traditional manner. Also, if you have additional injuries that take the total value of your claim over £5,000, you will claim via the traditional route.
If you would like to know how much compensation for anxiety after a car accident you might receive following a successful claim, get in touch with an advisor.
When Could I Claim For Psychological Trauma After A Car Accident?
Road users owe a duty of care to navigate the roads in a way that prevents harm or damage to one another. They can uphold this duty by following the rules and regulations in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code.
When claiming for psychological trauma after a car accident, compensation in the UK may be awarded if you meet the eligibility requirements. In order to make a valid personal injury claim for anxiety after a car accident, you will need to prove the following:
- A duty of care was owed by another road user.
- This duty was breached.
- You experienced psychological harm, a physical injury, or both together as a result of the breach.
These three criteria form the foundation of negligence in personal injury claims. You must prove negligence occurred in order to seek road traffic accident compensation.
For further guidance on the eligibility criteria, please contact an advisor. They can also answer other questions such as, ‘how much compensation for whiplash and anxiety can I claim after a road traffic accident?’.
Anxiety After Car Accidents – Claim Time Limits
There is a time limit to when you can start a personal injury claim. Under the Limitation Act 1980 this will generally be set at three years from the date of your accident. This time limit however does not apply to claims for minors or people deemed mentally incapable of starting a claim.
A claim for a person who lacks the mental capacity to represent themselves will have a similar allowance in place. Their time limit is essentially frozen and a litigation friend could start a claim on their behalf at any point. If they are ever deemed mentally capable of representing themselves, they will have 3 years from this date to start a claim for themselves.
My Child Has Anxiety After A Car Accident, Can I Claim On Their Behalf?
A minor who wants to make a claim for suffering from emotional shock after a car accident could either:
- Be represented by an appointed litigation friend, who could start a claim on their behalf
- Wait until they are 18 to start their claim. This is when the 3-year time limit will begin to apply, expiring on the date of their 21st birthday
You can reach out to a member of our team to learn more about what you could do if you had suffered from emotional anxiety or PTSD from your car accident, and the compensation you could seek.
How Can I Prove A Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
When making a claim for compensation for anxiety after a car accident, it’s important to make sure that you have the right evidence. This is because you need to prove not only that someone else breached their duty of care but that this caused you to suffer injuries.
Some examples of evidence that you could use to help you claim for mental health injuries after a car accident include:
- Medical records: These can detail the severity of your anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as the treatment you need in the future. If you are claiming for whiplash and anxiety, x-rays and other scans can help illustrate the severity of your injuries.
- Witness statements: Taking the contact details of those who witnessed the car accident ensures that their statements can be taken by a professional later on during the claims process.
- Photographs: Taking pictures of the accident site can help demonstrate how the crash occurred. Similarly, dashcam footage or CCTV footage could also be used as evidence.
A No Win No Fee solicitor from our team could help you collect evidence for your claim when you get in touch. Contact our team of advisors today to learn more about how to claim compensation for a car accident, or keep reading for more information on making a car accident claim.
Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
When making a personal injury claim for trauma after a car accident, whether it’s a traumatic physical injury or psychological injury, or both together, you may benefit from instructing a solicitor to help you seek compensation. One of our solicitors could help you make a claim for anxiety after a car accident on a No Win No Fee basis; they do this by offering their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When you work with a solicitor under a CFA, you aren’t expected to pay them a fee to begin work on your claim, nor do you have to pay for their continued services. Similarly, if your claim doesn’t succeed, your solicitor won’t take a fee for their services.
However, in the case of a successful claim, your solicitor will take a success fee. This fee is taken straight from your compensation in the form of a small percentage, though this percentage is subject to a legislative cap. The cap helps to ensure that the majority of your compensation goes to you.
Contact Our Team
If you are suffering from anxiety after a car accident, one of our solicitors could help. Contact our team of helpful advisors today to learn more. They can answer your questions, and can evaluate the validity of your claim. Start today by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using the live chat box
- Contacting us online
Useful Links Related To How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
- Click here to read the NHS guide to treatments for anxiety.
- The Anxiety UK web page has lots of information about anxiety that may help.
- Visit the government website to understand more about the DVLA’s guidance on PTSD and driving.
- Read our in-depth explanation of how our No Win No Fee service works.
- Our guide to car accident claims explores compensation for psychological and physical injuries following an accident.
More Helpful Guides
- Visit our guide on motorcycle accident claims which explores the process of making a claim against a negligent road user.
- Read this guide to see if you can claim for whiplash leading to physiotherapy.
- Psychiatric Injury Compensation Case Study
- Head Injury Claims
- Bus Accident Claims
Feel free to get in touch now if you want to learn more about how much compensation for anxiety after a car accident you could receive.
